The Essay: Setting Off

Joanna Robertson reflects on her decision to move to Albania in the mid-1990s, drawn by the mystery of a country she knew little about. Setting off in a used car and with only essential equipment, all bought with a business loan thanks to an understanding bank manager, she purchased a one-way boat ticket for a place that she only had second-hand knowledge of, gleaned from an almost-empty Albanian shop in London's Covent Garden and exiles in a Soho coffee shop.